SONY Bluetooth Earbuds WF-1000XM3 Review

2019-07-13 Ken

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iPhone, PC and other related gadgets

Airpods and WF-1000XM3, the Perfect Combo

I just got my hands on the WF-1000XM3’s.

I’ve been looking forward to the release of these bluetooth earbuds and they are great!

The bluetooth earphones/headphones that I’ve been using

I’ve been carrying around the Apple Airpods and the SONY WF-1000X’s.

I would use the Airpods in quiet environments like the office and use the WF-1000X’s on the go.

Airpods pros: stable connection with the iPhone and MacBook, good battery life, can use the left and right earpieces separately, feels good in the ear (not tight)
Airpods cons: no sound isolation!!!

Meanwhile…

WF-1000X pros: has better sound isolation compared with the Airpods
WF-1000X cons: unreliable connection, bad battery life, can only use the left earpiece separately, sound delays when watching videos

You can barely listen to podcast episodes using Airpods in noisy environments (trains, outside, etc) so in such situations, I would switch to the WF-1000X’s.

The batteries on the WF-1000X’s won’t last long flights and train rides, so in those situations, I would take with me the BOSE QC35’s.

Thoughts on the WF-1000XM3’s

The WF-1000XM3’s have basically remediated most, if not all of the shortcomings of the WF-1000X’s.

WF-1000XM3 pros: good noise isolation, reliable connection, good battery life, can use the left and right earpieces separately, sound delay on videos at an acceptable level
WF-1000XM3 cons: none!

I wouldn’t call them cons, but there are a few things that could’ve been better related with the tap sensors.

You can control playback and noise cancelation functions by tapping on the side of the earpieces.

The issue is that the tap sensors are too sensitive and they will often initiate unintended commands.

Improvements can be made with the tap playback control as well.

Playback can be controlled as follows:

One tap: play, stop
Two taps: play next song
Three taps: play previous song

The issue is that the feedback is the same for all commands (one beep) so it’s unclear whether the intended command was acknowledged or not.

This could be improved by changing the number of feedback beeps depending on the number of taps so that it’s clear what command is being executed.

Other than that, I’m loving these, including the design!

Things that I like about the WF-1000XM3 are as follows:

Well designed battery case: Other than the good looks, it’s magnetic and the earbuds slide nicely into place if you through them in.
Auto pause function: Like the Airpods, playback pauses when you remove one earpiece and resumes when you put it back on.
Switching connection from iPhone to MacBook is fast: pretty much comparable with the Airpods
Charges using USB-C cable: the port on the battery case is USB-C so no need to carry different cables